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Need Help Making My 1st Cruise Decision!


19a1angyl

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Up until the moment I started reading the boards, I was fairly certain I wanted to book a Disney Cruise (my family's first) and I was willing to pay the premium to have a Disney experience. But now, I must admit that I'm a little concerned. Frankly, I'm a little surprised hearing about bad food, overcrowded and dirty (yikes!) pools and a bunch of other comments. At Disney World, we have had nothing but optimal experiences, notwithstanding the usual crowds. I'd really hate to be disappointed on my first cruise. My family loves Disney, but our kids are not that little. We have a 17 and a 12 year old. Seeing characters is not going to be enough.

 

I would love to hear from people who have had a positive experience. I also have a couple of questions I'm hoping you experienced cruisers can help me with.

 

I'm thinking of a Western Caribbean cruise in November. Is that a good month to cruise? Do I really need to worry about hurricanes and sea sickness? We're all a little worried since we have suffered from sea sickness on some smaller boats. Is the Western the better cruise? I know it depends on your tastes, but I think I would like to see whatever are the prettiest. We are not much into water sports, so I'm thinking we'd like to walk around, explore and shop.

 

A couple of people mentioned upgrades. Should I book an oceanside stateroom and hope for an upgrade, or go straight to a room with a Verandah? What if they don't offer an upgrade, is there likely to be an opening if I wait to upgrade myself when we get there?

 

Can we have our own table for 4 at meals? I'm not a fan of sharing a table. It can be awkward if you find you don't gel. Is room service really free at any time? We could have room service every morning?

 

I'm sure I'm going to have more questions, but these are the big ones for now. The biggest is whether to go with the Disney cruise at all?! A Verandah room in November is going for $5500 without air. I really want to be sure I'm making the right decision.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

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For dozens of reviews good and bad, take a look at Cruise Critic's member reviews: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=33 It's interesting how folks can go on the same cruise yet have completely different experiences. I think that it comes down to some cruiser personality, some preparation but mostly the cruiser's attitude.

 

There's also "professional" reviews from our CC staff at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=16

 

These links are accessible from the main Cruisecritic.com home page.

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Up until the moment I started reading the boards, I was fairly certain I wanted to book a Disney Cruise (my family's first) and I was willing to pay the premium to have a Disney experience. But now, I must admit that I'm a little concerned. Frankly, I'm a little surprised hearing about bad food, overcrowded and dirty (yikes!) pools and a bunch of other comments. At Disney World, we have had nothing but optimal experiences, notwithstanding the usual crowds. I'd really hate to be disappointed on my first cruise. My family loves Disney, but our kids are not that little. We have a 17 and a 12 year old. Seeing characters is not going to be enough. We've had WONDERFUL experiences on DCL. Every cruise I've been on and some haven't been DCL, all pools at sea get dirty water. it's from sunscreen coming off in the water, so by the end of the day the pool does look a little murky. My DD who is 12 LOVES DCL, so your 12yo should have fun.

 

I would love to hear from people who have had a positive experience. I also have a couple of questions I'm hoping you experienced cruisers can help me with.

 

I'm thinking of a Western Caribbean cruise in November. Is that a good month to cruise? Do I really need to worry about hurricanes and sea sickness? We're all a little worried since we have suffered from sea sickness on some smaller boats. Is the Western the better cruise? I know it depends on your tastes, but I think I would like to see whatever are the prettiest. We are not much into water sports, so I'm thinking we'd like to walk around, explore and shop.I did feel that the western was smoother than an eastern in terms of seas. I personally like the ports on the eastern more, so that's my personal preference. I also like the extra sea day on the eastern. I have done a western in November twice, once on DCL the other time on RCCL, seas were calm both times.

 

A couple of people mentioned upgrades. Should I book an oceanside stateroom and hope for an upgrade, or go straight to a room with a Verandah? What if they don't offer an upgrade, is there likely to be an opening if I wait to upgrade myself when we get there? There rarely are upgrades available on DCL as their ships usually sail close to 100% full. I'd book the stateroom you want and not hope for an upgrade.

 

Can we have our own table for 4 at meals? I'm not a fan of sharing a table. It can be awkward if you find you don't gel. Is room service really free at any time? We could have room service every morning?We've always had our own table for 4. We just requested it through our TA. Yes room service is free and you could have room service every morning. Room service for breakfast is more continental, no eggs, pancakes, etc unless in a suite.

 

I'm sure I'm going to have more questions, but these are the big ones for now. The biggest is whether to go with the Disney cruise at all?! A Verandah room in November is going for $5500 without air. I really want to be sure I'm making the right decision.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Answers above in red. Hope that helps!

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Frankly, I'm a little surprised hearing about bad food, overcrowded and dirty (yikes!) pools and a bunch of other comments.

 

We've been on 4 DCL cruises and just booked our 5th, if that tells you anything. As far as food is converned, what's "good" to one person can be "bad" to another person. Personally, I've never had a "bad" meal onboard. Re: the pools - - DCL uses fresh water, not sea water, in their pools. I've never seen any of them dirty. Crowded, yes.

 

I'm thinking of a Western Caribbean cruise in November. Is that a good month to cruise? Do I really need to worry about hurricanes and sea sickness? We're all a little worried since we have suffered from sea sickness on some smaller boats. Is the Western the better cruise? I know it depends on your tastes, but I think I would like to see whatever are the prettiest. We are not much into water sports, so I'm thinking we'd like to walk around, explore and shop.

 

We've been on both the Eastern and Western. We greatly prefer the Eastern itinerary. St. Martin and St. Thomas are both beautiful and offer a great variety of shopping and dining ashore, as well as beautiful beaches. We found Grand Cayman and Cozumel to be somewhat "tourist-trap" oriented, much more so than the other islands. Hurricane season ends November 30th, and historically there are very few major storms then. The DCL ships are very large and have an excellent stabilizer system that greatly minimizes the motion that causes sea-sickness.

 

Can we have our own table for 4 at meals? I'm not a fan of sharing a table. It can be awkward if you find you don't gel. Is room service really free at any time? We could have room service every morning?

 

We've always been able to get a table for 4; we've never been seated with 'strangers'. Yes, room service is free, and you can get it every day. It is customary to tip the room service delivery person.

 

 

See replies in red above.

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I would echo what the above posters have said. But would add that a 17 and 12 year old are probably not going to appreciate DCL the way a 7 or 10 year old might (particularly the 17 year old). I'm not saying they wouldn't enjoy it but I wouldn't shy away from exploring other options. RCL might be more in line with what they might enjoy and you'd probably be looking at a significant savings.

 

Again, not saying DCL is bad or not worth it, but kids that age might enjoy less expensive options better.

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We were on the Wonder for only 3 days in December, but overall it was great. Our DGD was in the Oceaneer's Lab a lot during the days, so we were not at the pool all that much, but when we were there, it was very clean. The ship itself is kept exceptionally clean and tidy.

 

The food was good in all three of the restaurants. I cannot say that I loved the buffet on embarkation day, but there was plenty to choose from, and plenty of good choices. Are the main restaurants excellent? No, but they are certainly good, and the choices are more than sufficient. We did not try Palo, so I cannot comment on that.

 

The Western Caribbean is generally a bit calmer than the Eastern, but on any given day or couple of days, anything can happen. Technically, November is still hurricane season, but they are uncommon in November, so storms should not churn up the seas too much.

 

I don't want to digress into a long discussion of seasickness here, but take the normal precautions, and if the seas are not too rough, you shouldn't have a problem at all. A cruise ship is nothing at all like a small boat, there is no way to compare the two. Yes the ship moves, but a large ship moves more slowly and generally more gently unless the seas are fairly serious.

 

As for teenagers, I cannot say. There are areas just for teens, and I had no interaction with any while we were aboard. The shows are excellent, there are movies all the time, they have exclusive clubs, but teens can be hard to please. As I said to DW when we were aboard, most cruise lines are cruise companies and they try to entertain, but Disney is an entertainment company that happens to own a couple (almost 3 now) ships. They know how to do it, and they have something for everyone. Some teens really get into Disney including the characters, and some feel they are above it. No way can I comment on kids I don't know. If they want to have a good time, they will, if they fight it, they won't.

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We are going on the Wonder for the 4 day Cruise in just 11 days. We also have a 17 yr old and a 12 yr old.. daughters. I can tell you what they think of it if you would like. We have ourselves been on 4 other Carnival cruises. We have really enjoyed all of our Carnival Cruises...but have never taken the girls with us.

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Wow, thanks for all the great information everyone. I'm getting more and more comfortable making the decision to take the DCL cruise. Now to pick Eastern or Western....

 

My daughters are into Disney, even the 17 year old, so I'm hoping she'll get into the spirit of it. I would love to hear from you when you get back Cruisefriends. Funny how your daughters are the same ages as mine. It would be interesting to know how you made out.

 

New questions: Location of stateroom. Better to be on the lowest deck in the middle of the boat right? We're looking at rooms with a verandah to take advantage of the extra space. Back to the calmness question, I'd like to pick a room that is going to have the least motion.

 

Couple of people mentioned Castaway Cay being cancelled on a couple of trips. Does that really happen often?

 

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to more input from other cruisers.

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Hurricane season goes thru Nov 30th. I live on the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida and it seems like the hurricanes in the later months hit in the Gulf of Mexico: Katrina end of August, Ivan end of Sept, Opal mid of October. But mother nature can rear her head anytime. I think you would be happier deciding which ports-excursions fit your family better.

 

As for seasickness, error on the side of caution. Better to try to avoid it then try to get over it. I always start meds the night before I get on a boat so they are in my system. I would rather waste $5-10 on pills than waste a day in bed on vacation. Just my personal prefence.

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Our first and last cruise was with Disney Wonder in February. The price premium for our two kids was not worth it. Our kids, who have been to Europe and Costa Rica many times were not that interested in the characters and could have easily been amused just as much on a cruise of much less. Our veranda stateroom was $5000 for a four day cruise, airfare $1200, 'extras' $1100, excursions $1200. Price point way off the value.

We too have always had such good experiences with the parks and Disney hotels over the years we expected the same quality in the cruise line.

A final warning would be that, as I have posted before, smoking on the verandas is allowed on Disney and NOT on many other cruise lines.

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I am one of the people that recently posted a mixed review about the Magic, which you may be referring to. I'd like to explain that while I was disappointed about several aspects of the cruise, our overall experience was positive. I have a hospitality background and worked for many years at one of the largest and most reputable hotels in NYC. So I have an eye for detail when it comes to these things. Just like you, I have been to the Disney parks and have always been impressed with how well run and clean they are. That is what I expected of the ship as well and was disappointed when things were not as I had expected. Having said that, my children had a blast on the ship and my 8 year old son actually cried at the show the last night because he didn't want it to end. So, it was worth every penny we paid.

 

As for the service, the service throughout the ship was amazing. My only negative experience was in the dining room and even that was not so terrible. It was just a lot of little things on a daily basis that built up and when we addressed them, they were not remedied. It was more of an annoyance than anything.

 

As for the food...I was not impressed. Palo was delicious and we did have really good short ribs in the main dining room one night as well. The rest was mediocre. Seems they cut corners (i.e., a fake butter blend instead of butter, a cool whip type topping instead of whipped cream, egg substitute at the omelet station instead of eggs, microwaved frozen waffles instead of the real thing, etc.) and a lot of the food was greasy. Again, and I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but we have a lot of really great restaurants here so maybe I am spoiled!!!!

 

Regarding sea sickness, my friend's son suffers from motion sickness. When we were at dinner the first night, I felt a little nauseous as did my children and my friend's son. We took a dramamine, which kicked in right away and then we were fine after that. I think it was just a matter of getting our "sea legs". I will tell you that we originally booked a room midship and low (deck 2) because I heard that was the place you felt the motion the least. We were upgraded to a room midship and on 6. After being on the boat, I was very grateful for the upgrade, because 2 is close to the water!!!!! When we were at our meals on 3, we actually commented on how we probably would have been nauseous if we had to look at the waves up close on 2! Either way, unless you hit bad weather, you don't really feel the motion of the ship once you get moving, especially if you are midship.

 

One thing to consider is that some of the other cruise lines have activities geared towards older kids such as rock walls, skating rinks, etc. But if your girls are into Disney, DCL may be perfect for them. They do have a teens only club and when my husband went for a late night walk on 9, he commented how he noticed all the teens seem to have found each other . Good luck whatever you decide to do! What is right for one may not be right for another and you need to make the decision that is right for your family!

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I can't reply to your questions concerning older kids (our daughter is 8 yrs. old), but I can say we had a very positive experience on our first Disney Cruise last May. It was not our first cruise ever so we did have something to compare it too. Also, we are frequent Disney World vacationers and had fairly high expectations. We found our 4 night cruise quite enjoyable and to be along the same lines as our WDW park experiences! I would have to say that Castaway Cay is the best private island we've been to...in fact, maybe one of the best family beaches we've ever been to. The customer service was outstanding and the entertainment factor was wonderful...but we love Disney entertainment in general. We did find it pricey, but after the cruise we felt it was well worth the extra $. We loved it so much, we booked another cruise on board and are sailing on the Disney Dream in May of 2011 (2 stops at Castaway Cay). Compared to our previous cruises, I would say it was in the top 2 as far as most things go. We felt our food was good, but not outstanding...but we never expect Cruise food to be outstanding.

 

Having said all of this, if I had older children, I may choose differently depending on the kids. Disney definately has lots to offer most ages, but if your children don't appreciate the "Disney" atomosphere, they may enjoy NCL or RC better. There are no rock climbing walls, surfing pools, etc.

 

Also, we prefer the Eastern Caribbean but it might be because we have experienced rough seas crossing the Gulf. We also prefer rooms with balconies...we get a little claustrophobic with an inside cabin and love eating breakfast on the balcony.

 

Good luck with your decision! :)

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Thanks for the extra clarification Mong1114 and thanks for your insights CruiseMaven. I'm still trying to make up my mind, but at least now I have a lot more information. There is so much out there on all the different sites that it can get kind of confusing. It's nice to hear opinions of real families though.

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Hey 19a1angyl, we are looking at taking our first DCL cruise but our kids are 6,4 so I can not help you out there. The time of year would probably be good. We have been in Sept and it was great. I would suggest taking a RCL ship like a freedom class ship. This type of ship will keep your kids busy. We just got off the Freedom of the seas 2 weeks ago and there were several kids 12,17. Freedom has rock climbing, flow rider, basketball, ice skating, johhny rockets

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We went on our 1st DCl cruise in Feb 09. We wanted to try it before our kids got too old.

 

(We had sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, HAL, and NCL previously. Over 15 cruises total.)

 

We had such a great time we booked another on board for Aug 09.

 

Last month, we booked DCL to Alaska in Aug, 2011. Our kids will be 13 and 10. They are looking forward to going. They enjoy kids and family programming the most on DCl. The worst to them is Carnival. They would rather stay home than cruise with them.

 

DCl is our favorite cruise line. We realize it is not for everyone. It makes us happy.

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Well, amidships (middle) is good if you want to reduce any pitching motion (bow going up and down) that you might encounter. The motion is the smallest at the center (between bow and stern) and increases as you go in either direction from there.

 

As for rolling motion (side-to-side), it doesn't matter when you are in the center or in the bow or stern. This motion is the least in the center of the ship going from side to side, but that would put you in an inside cabin -- not always the best, particularly if you are worrying about the motion, since an inside cabin is the worst for someone with any chance of getting motion sick.

 

As for "low" that is really not correct. In older days, when ships did not have the mammoth superstructures they have today, being low put you (once again) near the Center of Motion, and minimized motion. However, with the current design of ships, that Center of Motion is somewhere above the main deck. So, do not pick a cabin way down low, or you are putting yourself in something equivalent to one of the higher decks. Low has become a relative term, and you are really looking for the middle (or something like it) between the top of the ship and the keel. (That's not exact, but close enough for government work.)

 

The bottom line is amidships to minimize pitching, a lower deck, but likely above the main deck to minimize rolling.

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Up until the moment I started reading the boards, I was fairly certain I wanted to book a Disney Cruise (my family's first) and I was willing to pay the premium to have a Disney experience. But now, I must admit that I'm a little concerned. Frankly, I'm a little surprised hearing about bad food, overcrowded and dirty (yikes!) pools and a bunch of other comments. At Disney World, we have had nothing but optimal experiences, notwithstanding the usual crowds. I'd really hate to be disappointed on my first cruise. My family loves Disney, but our kids are not that little. We have a 17 and a 12 year old. Seeing characters is not going to be enough.

 

I would love to hear from people who have had a positive experience. I also have a couple of questions I'm hoping you experienced cruisers can help me with.

 

I'm thinking of a Western Caribbean cruise in November. Is that a good month to cruise? Do I really need to worry about hurricanes and sea sickness? We're all a little worried since we have suffered from sea sickness on some smaller boats. Is the Western the better cruise? I know it depends on your tastes, but I think I would like to see whatever are the prettiest. We are not much into water sports, so I'm thinking we'd like to walk around, explore and shop.

 

A couple of people mentioned upgrades. Should I book an oceanside stateroom and hope for an upgrade, or go straight to a room with a Verandah? What if they don't offer an upgrade, is there likely to be an opening if I wait to upgrade myself when we get there?

 

Can we have our own table for 4 at meals? I'm not a fan of sharing a table. It can be awkward if you find you don't gel. Is room service really free at any time? We could have room service every morning?

 

I'm sure I'm going to have more questions, but these are the big ones for now. The biggest is whether to go with the Disney cruise at all?! A Verandah room in November is going for $5500 without air. I really want to be sure I'm making the right decision.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

It's been a few years since I've been on DCL, but here are my experiences. The food ranges from OK to excellent. We loved the breakfasts, thought lunch was OK, and dinner varied. The food was never bad--and we are pretty picky. In the main dining room it's not going to be California Grill or Citrico's, but it's good. Palo is as good as any WDW restaurant, better than many of the signature restaurants.

 

Your 12 year old will have a great time, your 17 year old--it depends. If they like to meet new kids and do typical 17 year old stuff, then they'll enjoy it. If most of their friends are older than they are or they are introverts, they might not. But I think that would be the same on any cruise. One of my criticisms of DCL is they've got the adult pool, that's good. Then they've got the family pool which is generally too small for the number of bodies in it. It would be nice if there was a third pool for the teens that could be used by anyone 13-20--before they are old enough to drink but when they don't really need the constant supervision of parents. (Even if it was a small 'splash pool" with a deck area set aside for them.)

 

November is a great month to cruise, it will be cooler than the very hot summer months, although do be aware that hurricane season doesn't end until the END of November. That said, once you pass mid October the threat is significantly lowered.

 

Overall I think I prefer the itinerary on the Eastern. Grand Cayman was boring--I think we spent a total of maybe two hours on land there. Other than the beach and water sports there just isn't a lot going on. I like Cozumel only for the Tulum excursion, and my husband played golf there. Key West is fun, but I wouldn't plan a cruise around it. We are the same as you, we like walking around, history and local culture, a little shopping, and overall there is a lot more for that on the Eastern IMHO.

 

As far as what to book, I've always said book what you'll be happy with and never expect an upgrade. Some sailings in November can be booked full due to NJ week and Thanksgiving, so I'd never delay hoping to get what I really wanted.

 

You can request a table for four, but it's not guaranteed. When you get onboard you can go to the dining room and see where your table is and request a change if you are seated with others, but again, it's not guaranteed. As far as breakfast room service, yes, it's free and yes you can get it delivered to your cabin every day. If you are in a suite you can get anything on the restaurant breakfast menu, in a regular cabin the menu is limited--no eggs, only toast, cereal, etc.

 

I am very prone to motion sickness. The only time I've had a problem is the first day and final night when we were crossing the Gulf Stream, but it wasn't unbearable.

 

We've cruised on DCL and RCCL, and we're going back on DCL. We won't cruise RCCL again after our very negative experience with them. We had a few criticisms of DCL, but overall thought that they offer a superior product that is worth the money. Have fun with your planning!

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Well, amidships (middle) is good if you want to reduce any pitching motion (bow going up and down) that you might encounter. The motion is the smallest at the center (between bow and stern) and increases as you go in either direction from there.

 

As for rolling motion (side-to-side), it doesn't matter when you are in the center or in the bow or stern. This motion is the least in the center of the ship going from side to side, but that would put you in an inside cabin -- not always the best, particularly if you are worrying about the motion, since an inside cabin is the worst for someone with any chance of getting motion sick.

 

As for "low" that is really not correct. In older days, when ships did not have the mammoth superstructures they have today, being low put you (once again) near the Center of Motion, and minimized motion. However, with the current design of ships, that Center of Motion is somewhere above the main deck. So, do not pick a cabin way down low, or you are putting yourself in something equivalent to one of the higher decks. Low has become a relative term, and you are really looking for the middle (or something like it) between the top of the ship and the keel. (That's not exact, but close enough for government work.)

 

The bottom line is amidships to minimize pitching, a lower deck, but likely above the main deck to minimize rolling.

 

Lower is still better.

Below deck one is three more decks, A, B and C to the center of bouyancy is still low relative to the passenger decks. Also, the ship's mass isn't distributed evenly. Below deck three (the main deck), the ship structure is much heavier than the lightweight superstructure built above it. The naval architect even had the stacks built of aluminum at great cost to reduce the weight way up high.

I don't know where the center of buoyancy is exactly, but it's down low. I don't think that DCL will loan me their stability curves.

Down low, midships and centerline is always better for reducing all movements.

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Actually for me lower isn't better. If I'm only a few feet above the water I feel terribly sick looking out at the water. If I'm on an upper deck it doesn't bother me at all, because the motion of the water is diminished by teh distance.

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Thanks for the input. Since I want a verandah to add to the feeling of spaciousness, I'm limited to how low I can go anyway, so I'll try for the middle of Deck 6. Deck 5 didn't seem to have any rooms in the middle of the boat. Are there any benefits or downsides between decks 6 & 7?

 

I like both the Western and Eastern itineraries for different reasons. Might just have to toss a coin :)

 

I like a pool now and then, but I don't think it's terribly important since we will have the opportunity to be in the water when we hit the islands. Are there deck chairs for sunning away from the pools. I prefer that with a cool drink in hand. My 12 year old will disagree, but we can certainly compromise and do a little of both.

 

Last question on dining - can you switch seating times? For example, if we're at port and don't want to rush back. Or would we have to go eat at the buffet or something?

 

Thanks to everyone who has been responding to my original post. Great input. Can't wait to share my experiences when we get back.

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Thanks for the input. Since I want a verandah to add to the feeling of spaciousness, I'm limited to how low I can go anyway, so I'll try for the middle of Deck 6. Deck 5 didn't seem to have any rooms in the middle of the boat. Are there any benefits or downsides between decks 6 & 7?

 

I like both the Western and Eastern itineraries for different reasons. Might just have to toss a coin :)

 

I like a pool now and then, but I don't think it's terribly important since we will have the opportunity to be in the water when we hit the islands. Are there deck chairs for sunning away from the pools. I prefer that with a cool drink in hand. My 12 year old will disagree, but we can certainly compromise and do a little of both.

 

Last question on dining - can you switch seating times? For example, if we're at port and don't want to rush back. Or would we have to go eat at the buffet or something?

 

Thanks to everyone who has been responding to my original post. Great input. Can't wait to share my experiences when we get back.

 

There are plenty of deck chairs that aren't around the pool.

 

You can't switch your dinner seating like that, if you can't make your assigned seating you can order room service or eat in the buffet restaurant.

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We were in room 6542 and our friends were in 6540. We thought it was a perfect location. We were midship and close enough to the elevator but not too close that the noise would bother you. We were also far enough from the laundry room that we were not disturbed by that noise. I never really thought about that, but one night I went down to get my clothes out of the dryer around 11:30pm and a crew member was asking the ladies in the laundry room to keep the door shut and keep their voices down because people in the surrounding rooms had complained about noise. We heard a slight muffled noise a few times during the day, I was thinking maybe we were above the kids club, but never really checked it out. It was not loud at all, nothing that would disturb anyone.

 

The location was midship and we didn't feel the motion of the boat much at all. Occasionally I felt it ever so slightly when I was laying in bed in the mornings, but nothing bad! I'd highly recommend these cabins. Also, if you do a search online, there is a web site where people rate their cabins on Disney, so you can find out if a cabin you are considering has any "issues".

 

Incidentally, before we left, the mom of my son's friend (who happens to be a travel agent/cruise specialist) mentioned she was on deck 6 when she took her last Disney cruise and she had the best room. Turned out that she was also in 6542!!!

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Hi,

 

I'm a little late to this party but we've been on two Disney cruises, a 7 day in 2004 and a 3 day in 2009, and have booked the Disney Dream for 2011 so I thought I'd chime in. Just as a reference point, we've also taken our kids on Royal Caribbean and Carnival several times.

 

Our kids were 6 and 9 during our last Disney cruise in December 2009 and they really enjoyed it. I was worried that the 9 year old would think it was "too baby" for him but he still enjoyed it. What teens would think? Who knows? Probably depends on the type of teen and if they're with or meet some people they like hanging out with.

 

Regarding service and cleanliness, we've always found the Disney ships to be very clean and the service to be excellent, as they are in the parks.

 

The kids have always enjoyed the Disney cruises but as a family we probably like Carnival the best. I find their kids club to be the best and they have the most variety when you're traveling with a group that includes many ages. Just my opinion but I guess that's what you're looking for :).

 

Regarding the food, both my husband and I commented during our last Disney cruise that the food had improved since our initial cruise with them in 2004. The dining room food is superior to the buffet, of course. And we've learned to eat breakfast in the dining room, it's just better. Palo, the adults only restaurant, is definitely worth a visit.

 

The one thing that Disney that we feel is better than all of the other cruiselines we've been on is Castaway Cay, their private island. It is beautiful and better than the rest. Hard to describe why but once you go, you notice the difference immediately.

 

Is Disney worth the premium price? I don't think so. We got an excellent deal in 2004 for a 7 day cruise but now I think they're priced too high and you can get a very similar and sometimes better experience on another line for less money. With that being said, if you like Disney, it's worth it. I would go again - we are in Sept. 2011 but we've also learned that Disney isn't necessarily the gold standard - Carnival is excellent and Royal Caribbean tends to be very good too.

 

Have a great time, whatever you choose!

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